


Sorry, I Panicked

by TheWalrusAndTheCarpenter



Category: Night at the Museum (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fake/Pretend Relationship, High School AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 02:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6637015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWalrusAndTheCarpenter/pseuds/TheWalrusAndTheCarpenter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Octavius first moved to America, the last thing he would have guessed he would end up doing would be pretending to date the best friend he has secretly been in love with for the past two years. Whether this situation was cruel twist of fate or luck he wasn't sure. What he was sure of however, is that Jedediah really isn't great under pressure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. prologue

Octavius had only just turned 15 when his father announced that they were going to be leaving Rome to go and live in America. It wasn’t exactly a huge surprise because ever since his father had changed jobs, moving country had become a possibility. This prospect meant that his parents had tried their best to teach Octavius English for the past few years. Octavius considered himself quite good at English, but he was nowhere near fluent.

Even though he knew that the move was going to happen eventually, it didn’t stop the Italian from tearing up a little as he watched the city he grew up in become a speck from the aeroplane window.

-

“ _Octavius, stop sulking dear,_ ” his mother told him in Italian as they sat in the car outside of his new school. She had tried her best to speak English as often as possible to help her son get used to speaking the language, but she thought that the current situation required something familiar to help him relax.

The building was a lot smaller than Octavius was expecting, but then again they were no longer in the bustling city of Rome. They had barely been in the country a month and he was already starting school.

Really, Octavius would have preferred to have had just a bit more time to settle since everything was so new. He was still often speaking Italian when he went into shops without realising, actually now that he thought about it that would explain why the woman in the greengrocers had given him such an odd look when he asked where the spring onions were that morning.

“ _But mother…”_ Octavius began to protest but as his mother scowled at him, his words caught in his throat.

Running a hand through his short, curly hair, he sighed. There was no choice but to just get on with the day, besides how hard could it actually be. Surely going to school here couldn’t be too different from his last one. School was school no matter which country you were in.

-

Later, as Octavius stood in the corner of his drama class, he cursed himself for ever thinking that he could do this.

His teacher had been talking for the past fifteen minutes, and out of all of it Octavius had only managed to understand a very small fraction of it. It had been the same in his other lessons of the day. Evidently, learning how to understand spoken English from his mother, who purposely spoke slowly and still had a thick Italian accent, was not an effective way to learn.

Along with not being able to understand what the teachers were saying, none of the students had even tried to talk to him. Whether they could tell he couldn’t understand them or whether they just didn’t want to talk to the new kid, he couldn’t decide.

The teacher then said something that caused all of the students to start moving, and since it wasn’t time for the class to end Octavius assumed that it meant that they were doing group work.

Octavius watched from the side lines as the rest of his class paired up and began chatting amongst themselves.  He was too busy observing everyone else’s groups that he didn’t notice someone was trying to get his attention.

Feeling a light tap on his shoulder, Octavius turned and was met by two people. The one who appeared to have been trying to get his attention was a tall, tanned, dark haired male. The other beside him was a slightly shorter male with blond hair and the most beautiful blue eyes Octavius had ever seen. However, the tanned boy started talking to him and so he had to turn his focus quickly away from his blond companion.

“Do you speak English?” The boy asked slowly, pronouncing each word carefully. Octavius couldn’t help but notice that his accent wasn’t American. “I am Ahkmenrah, this is my friend Jedediah.”

It took a little while for the information to translate but when it did, Octavius couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of himself for being able to understand.

“Some,” Octavius replied. His accent was thick and he hoped that he didn’t make too much of a fool out of himself. “I’m still learning. My name is Octavius.”

Ahkmenrah smiled kindly. “The language is easier to pick up than you first think.”

At this, Octavius merely nodded to show that he had understood what Ahkmenrah had said.

The blond - that Octavius soon remembered was called Jedediah - laughed.

“I remember when you joined Ahk, couldn’t speak a word to nobody ‘part from to that creepy brother of yours. Ramen noodle needs to learn to quit starin’ at me as well, it’s real off puttin’.”

Jedediah spoke quickly, and although Octavius expected to not understand what he said, he somehow managed to get the gist of it all. Although he didn’t understand how noodles were part of the conversation about Ahkmenrah’s brother, he assumed it was something lost in translation.

They didn’t do anything for the remainder of the lesson, they just sat and talked. Ahkmenrah had explained how he had moved from Egypt just a few years prior and felt exactly how Octavius did, confused and homesick. Octavius only learnt a bit about Jedediah, which was that he was in nearly all of his classes. Knowing that made him feel a bit better, at least he knew one person in his classes. The Egyptian then also invited Octavius to hang around with them for a while, which he accepted gratefully.

After their drama lesson, the two had taken Octavius under their wings and they became fast friends. Despite Octavius struggling to understand him at times, he and Jedediah became inseparable. It was thanks to Jed that the Italian’s English began to rapidly improve. Octavius couldn’t help but think that if Ahk and Jed didn’t start talking to him, then he may have been stuck in a constant state of isolation and confusion.

By the end of the year, Octavius was much happier than he was when he first moved. It took a while for Octavius to get used to the new school system and the new dynamics of everything but eventually he settled in. Jedediah and Ahkmenrah had introduced him to the rest of their friends; Teddy, Sacagawea, and Larry, which helped him feel a bit more welcome. Teddy, he discovered, was a very kind person who even offered to help Octavius get up to date on the subjects that he was struggling in due to the change in curriculum.

However, as his first year in America progressed, Octavius found himself starting to fall for his new blond haired friend. He found himself intently listening to Jedediah’s tall tales about his family farm even if at the beginning he couldn’t really perceive what the story was about, Octavius just enjoyed seeing the Jedediah’s face light up as he recalled events. But more often than not, he caught himself looking into Jedediah’s stunning blue eyes.  Octavius knew from a young age that he was gay and he had come out to his parents and his friends back in Rome and nobody seemed to mind, however he didn’t know how people would react here. He didn’t want to lose any of the few friends he had so he promised himself that he’d keep it to himself, at least for the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just posting the prologue seems a bit cruel, so have the first proper "chapter" ;))

Two years later, Octavius was still living in America. His dad's job had yet to make them move again.

“Hey Octy!” Jedediah called out from the end of the driveway as Octavius left his house.

Shortly after they had met for the first time, they had discovered that Jedediah only lived a street over from Octavius and so they pair had started to walk to school together.

“How was your summer? Didn’t see ya much boy, where’d ya go?”

As Jedediah spoke, he swung one arm round Octavius’ shoulder as he did with most of his friends. The touch and close contact caused Octavius’ heart to race slightly, although he wouldn’t let his flustering show.

“I thought I told you that I was going back to Rome.” Octavius said, readjusting his light scarf.

For September it was unusually cold, or perhaps Octavius just got too used to Rome’s heat while he was away.  Although most of his time was spent inside visiting relatives and friends, he was still in the sun enough for his olive skin to darken once again.  

The two began to walk in the direction of school. With Jedediah’s arm still resting around Octavius’ shoulder, the two quickly fell into step with one another.

“That you did amigo, ol’ Jed must’ve just forgotten for a moment there,” Jedediah replied, smiling. “Hey, what’s Rome like? Ya mention it an awful lot but never really describe it.”

The remainder of their journey was spent with Octavius explaining the beauty of Rome in great detail. He described the people, the architecture, the history, and even the smell of the bakery that had been on the same street as his old house. Octavius in the end began to trail off, believing that he was rambling and that Jedediah really didn’t care. But when he looked over at his friend, the blond had a huge, lopsided grin on his face.

“What?” Octavius prompted sharply. If Jed was going to make fun of him he would rather get it over and done with.

“Nothin’, I just like seeing ya all happy like that Ockie. Makes a real nice change from how serious you always are in class.”

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, a silence that was broken by Ahkmenrah the second that they passed through the school gates.

“My friends! It is so good that you’re back!” The Egyptian practically ran over when he first saw them, dragging Larry with him as he went.

Jedediah laughed and removed his arm from Octavius’ shoulders.

“If anything I should be the one sayin’ that, since y’all all went off to fancy places over the summer an’ I just stayed here,” he said without any heat.

Over the summer, Jedediah was the only one who didn’t leave the area. He understood that his parents just couldn’t afford to take him on holiday and so he never complained. But even so he couldn’t help but think about how it must be nice to visit somewhere that wasn’t this dusty old town.

From beside Ahkmenrah, Larry spoke up.

“I really wouldn’t say that Brooklyn is particularly fancy, Jed,” he said, to which they all laughed.

The bell rang and the group began to make their way to their respective classes. Both Jedediah and Octavius noticed that Ahkmenrah’s hand was still around Larry’s wrist, but neither mentioned it. If there was anything going on between the two of them, it was about time. Ahkmenrah and Larry had been dancing around each other for nearly a year now and it was getting to the point where every one of their friends knew, apart from each other.

-

“Hello Jedediah.”

Instantly, Jedediah groaned.

“Go away.” He said, keeping his eyes on his book.

They were starting their poetry module in English and Jedediah was actually looking forward to it, Octavius had been sharing poetry with him since they met and he was beginning to rather like it. He still didn’t think that there was any reason that they had to analyse the “deeper meaning” of the words but at least he could now appreciate a good poem when he saw one.

However, what he didn’t like was having to sit next to Kahmunrah. He had asked to move seats at the end of last year but his teacher never got around to changing the seating arrangement. Kahmunrah was nothing like his brother. While Ahk was funny and kind, Kahmunrah was crazier than a box of shaken up rattlesnakes. And for whatever reason, Kahmunrah had a _slight_ obsession with Jedediah, and the blond really didn’t like it.

“That’s no way to talk to your friend, is it Jedediah?” Kahmunrah practically purred as he slipped into his seat.

“You ain’t my friend, cup o’ ramen.” Jedediah said sternly, keeping his attention on his book. He wished that there was someone else in this class that he knew, but unfortunately he was stuck by himself with Kahmunrah for the foreseeable future.

As the teacher began to drone on about the importance of their exams this year and how vital it was to start revision early, Jedediah felt a pressure against his shin. He glanced under the desk to see that Kahmunrah had reached his long leg over and was currently rubbing his sandal-clad foot up and down Jed’s leg.

Jedediah jerked his leg away and turned angrily towards the Egyptian beside him.

“What the _hell_ do ya think you’re doin’ common ramen?” He hissed, however Kahmunrah didn’t stop.

A wry grin appeared on Kahmunrah’s face as Jedediah got more and more agitated.

“Aren’t you just the most adorable little thing?” He teased.

Kahmunrah’s lisp and condescending tone was really starting to rub Jedediah up the wrong way. It was only half an hour into the lesson and he was already willing start skipping classes; there wasn’t enough patience in his entire being to be able to put up with Kahmunrah. He mentally told himself that he would have to talk to Ahk at some point; hopefully he should be able to get his brother to leave him alone.

“I ain’t adorable.” Jed snapped, careful to keep his voice low as to not attract the attention of their teacher. “Now quit manhandlin’ me and let me get back to my readin’.”

Luckily, after that Kahmunrah got the hint and slouched back in his seat.

Jed shook his head as he thought to himself. He never understood why Kahmunrah kept trying to talk to him when he had made it perfectly clear that he thinks that the Egyptian is a creepy weirdo. No matter how irritating he was though, Jedediah couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the guy since it must suck not having any friends.

But when Jedediah thought back over how Kahmunrah had no concept of personal space with him, he re-evaluated his opinion and decided that it was probably Kahmunrah’s own fault that he had no friends. The guy was a total goof and not in the adorable dork-y way.

This was going to be a _very_ long year.

-

Octavius’s history class was boring. Not to say that learning about the ‘Wild West’ and about Native Americans, cowboys, and wagon trails wasn’t interesting, but he much preferred European history. So rather than pay attention to the lesson, which he knows he will probably regret later, he spent the hour watching Larry and Ahkmenrah.

Octavius was certain that something was going on between the two of them. Part of him knew that he shouldn’t concern himself with it because it was their business not his, but the other part of him was really curious. Hopefully something was happening with them because when Ahkmenrah talked about Larry it was as though he was talking about some kind of beloved God. The Egyptian’s face lit up far brighter when he thought about Larry than Octavius had ever seen it do before.

The Italian watched as Larry and Ahkmenrah chatted at the front of the classroom with small smiles on their faces. For a moment he wished that he could read lips but then again, that probably would have been invading his friends’ privacy a bit too much.

It was sweet to see them talking like that though. Octavius couldn’t stop a smile tugging at his lips when he saw that Larry was blushing at something Ahkmenrah had said.

His heart sank a little when he realised that he probably wouldn’t get to experience anything like that. Over the years his feelings for Jedediah hadn’t wavered, if anything they had intensified, but he had realised soon enough that he and Jedediah were not meant to be.

It was hard for him to keep his feelings quiet, especially when Jedediah started dating. He watched as Jedediah and Amelia started dating, how Jedediah truly fell for her. It hurt at times to see Jedediah with her, but Octavius kept calm. So long as Jed was happy, he was happy, which was probably why he began to dislike Amelia when she broke up with the blond. Jedediah was so upset over it that he refused to talk to anyone, including Octavius for nearly a week.

Then when he started fooling around with Custer, Octavius knew it wasn’t going to last. Unfortunately, Jedediah didn’t see that, he never did. The blond quickly began to fall for Custer, but quickly changed his mind when he discovered that Custer was only using him as a way to get closer to Sacagawea. Octavius could see that Jedediah was hurt about it, despite him making constant remarks about how his life was like a teen tv show.

With each failing relationship Octavius watched his friend go through, the more he began to think that if _he_ was the one to date Jedediah he wouldn’t let anything hurt him, at least not anything that he could help. But it didn’t matter, Octavius was starting to accept the fact that they were not meant to be.

“Octavius!” The annoyed voice of his teacher pulled him from his thoughts.

Blinking rapidly, Octavius tried to get himself to focus back on the lesson.

“Octavius, can you tell me the year that The Battle of the Little Bighorn took place?”

“I, uh…” Octavius froze.

_This is why you pay attention in class rather than fuss about unimportant things,_ he mentally scolded himself.

At the front of the classroom the teacher waited for an answer, but when it became evident that she wouldn’t be getting anything from Octavius she sighed. Shaking her head she began to write more information up on the board.

“I’m disappointed, Octavius,” she said in that ‘you used be my favourite student’ voice that made him feel ashamed. “You always pay attention in class, don’t make this daydreaming become a habit.”

Some of the students in the class snickered at this. However, Larry and Ahkmenrah looked back at him with concerned expressions. To dismiss their worries, Octavius just waved his hand in a gesture that didn’t really have any specific meaning. The two nodded unsurely before turning their attention back to the board.

With a slight groan, Octavius began to start writing down notes. He would much rather spend his time doing something productive than lament or wallow in self-pity.

**_The Battle of Little Bighorn took began on June 25 th 1876 and ended on June 26th of the same year…_ **

**_-_ **

“Ahk, pal,” Jedediah began, as they sat at their usual table at lunch. Larry had yet to turn up, and Teddy and Sacagawea went to go and discuss their coursework with their geography teacher. “D’ya think ya could get that _delightful_ brother of yours to leave me the hell alone? ‘Cause I won’t be responsible for my actions if he starts touchin’ me again.”

He was about to angrily shove a fist full of French fries into his mouth when Octavius held his wrist to stop him.

“You know you will choke if you do that,”  Octavius said quietly, thinking back on the time he had done exactly that last time Kahmunrah had gotten on his nerves.

In defeat, Jedediah put the fries back on his plate and started to eat them at a much more sensible pace.

Across the table, Ahkmenrah sighed. He loved his brother, he truly did, but his brother was also a giant pain in the backside sometimes.

“I will try and talk to him, but he does not exactly listen to me,” replied Ahkmenrah. “You would think that after this long he would understand that you are not particularly fond of him, though he has always been quite persistent.”

Jedediah rolled his eyes, “Persistent is definitely one way of describing him. Along with irritatin’, creepy, and weird-ow!”

Octavius noticed how with each word, Ahkmenrah appeared more upset. Although he couldn’t stand Kahmunrah either, Ahkmenrah and Kahmunrah were still brothers and it probably rather hurt to hear someone say such things about someone you were related to. Knowing Jedediah he probably would continue to rant for the rest of lunch, so he ended his rambling by discreetly pinching his thigh.

When Jedediah looked over at him in shock, Octavius merely nodded his head in Ahkmenrah’s direction. Said Egyptian was looking down at his lunch silently.

“Sorry Ahk, I know he’s your brother ‘nd everythin’ but…” Jed said awkwardly running his fingers through his hair.

Ahkmenrah shrugged. “Do not apologise, I understand how my brother is. I just do not know how I can get him to leave you alone.”

At that moment, Larry turned up and took the seat next to Ahkmenrah and opposite Octavius.

“Get who to leave who alone?” He asked, pulling out an apple from the depths of his bag.

Octavius stopped eating his salad for a moment and looked towards his friend. Larry seemed to have a habit of always missing the first part of a conversation.

“Kahmunrah had been harassing Jedediah again,” Octavius explained.

With widened eyes, Larry cast a glance to Ahkmenrah and Jedediah.

“Really? Already? But we’ve only just came back from summer.”

Jed grunted in confirmation, as he continued to eat his fries. They needed a new way to get Kahmunrah to leave him alone because he honestly didn’t think that he would be able to cope with any more of the guy.

Resting one hand on his chin and using the other to eat his apple, Larry thought. Out of the lot of them, Larry was usually the plan maker, and most of the time his plans actually worked.

“What kind of harassing Jed? Like the ‘hi I wanna be your friend but you won’t talk to me’ kind or the ‘hey I want to date you and you said no but I don’t really care’ kind?” Larry asked, he had a few plans but it depended on the situation on whether they might actually work or not.

Thinking over their English lesson earlier, Jedediah shuddered.

“Uh, the second one,” replied Jedediah awkwardly. “He kept tryin’ to play footsies with me in class, wouldn’t let me be.”

The table became silent. This was the first time Jedediah had mentioned Kahmunrah appearing to have any intention other than a weird friendship. Ahkmenrah’s eyes widened slightly as he had never heard of his brother having any romantic feelings towards anyone before.

“You are not interested in him, are you?”  The words escaped Octavius’ mouth before he could really think them over.

“What the-?” Jed exclaimed. “Of course not Octy!”

Octavius coughed, to try and distract himself from the blush he felt creeping up.

“I was merely making sure…” He muttered under his breath.

Before Jedediah had a chance to comment, Larry interrupted.

“Just say you’re in a relationship and that he needs to back off, I’m sure Kahmunrah would leave you alone after that.”

Larry had talked to Kahmunrah a few times in the past and although he did seem a bit odd - he also really disliked Larry being in his personal space if he remembered correctly - he didn’t seem the type to harass people that were already in a relationship. Then again he also didn’t seem the type to be in a relationship in the first place. Either way, the plan was most likely going to work.

“I don’t know about that Gigantor, what if it don’t work? I ain’t exactly great under pressure, ya know that,” Jedediah said. He once again tangled his fingers in his hair, a nervous habit he had picked up somewhere in his childhood.

Now completely finished with their lunches, Octavius and Ahkmenrah re-joined the conversation.

“It certainly sounds like it might be worth a try,” Ahkmenrah commented.

Octavius nodded in agreement. “Also you do not need to give him any evidence, all you need to say is that they go to another school. He will never know that they don’t exist.”

Biting his lip, Jedediah thought over it. It was probably his best – and only – plan of action, so he might as well go for it.

He didn’t have Kahmunrah in his class after lunch so unless he saw him in the corridors on the way there, which was very unlikely, he would just have to talk to him tomorrow.

Until then, Jedediah decided he could relax a little bit. The only lesson he had left before he could go home was drama which meant he had a little over an hour messing around with Ahk and Octy. Since their old drama teacher was on maternity leave, they would be getting a new one so he just hoped that whoever they got was nice.

-

“That Lance guy is an _ass!_ ” Jedediah muttered as he and Octavius sat in the corner of the dark theatre.

He sat with his head resting lightly on Octavius’ shoulder, his eyes fluttering closed as he tried to nap.

The lovely, Mrs Finn had been replaced by some blond haired, blue eyed, asshole called Mr Lance.  From the moment they had walked into the rehearsal room he had instantly started picking on Jedediah.

“‘Mr Smith do this’, ‘Mr Smith do that’” Jedediah imitated in such a terrible British accent that Octavius couldn’t help but chuckle. “’Mr Smith you can’t sleep in here’, like hell I can’t sleep in here.”

Mr Lance hadn’t given them any choice in their partners this year. It was down to pure luck that Jedediah and Octavius had been put together. Unfortunately Ahkmenrah hadn’t been so lucky and had been paired with Attila. Now, Jed was sure that Attila was probably a nice enough guy but he was _really_ intimidating and didn’t really say much.

“He does make a valid point though; you really shouldn’t sleep in here Jedediah,” Octavius told him, but made no effort to move either. His head was resting atop Jedediah’s as they had done many times before and quite honestly, he was too comfortable to move.

Although Octavius could not see from this angle, he was certain that Jedediah had just rolled his eyes.

“You’re only sayin’ that ‘cause you think he’s cute,” mumbled Jedediah.

“I _never_ said that, you’re putting words into my mouth!”

“You said his eyes were nice.”

“I… No, I did say that.” Octavius looked over to where Mr Lance was. He was talking to one of the groups of girls about what they planned to do for their exam this year. “He does have very blue eyes, they’re very attractive.”

_Though not as attractive as yours_ , he added mentally.

“Well, he’s a dick.” Jedediah was still sulking it seemed.

Rolling his eyes, Octavius wrapped an arm around his friend in attempt to cease his foul mood. Jedediah shuffled a bit to make himself comfortable.

Jedediah fell into a light sleep after that but Octavius could have sworn he heard him mutter “You deserve better,” before slipping into his nap, but he couldn’t have heard that correctly.

Octavius let Jedediah nap on his shoulder for the remainder of the hour, he was prepared to wake him up if Mr Lance got close to try and prevent Jed getting into trouble. Luckily he stayed talking with the groups on the other side of the practice room. At one point Ahkmenrah looked over and saw Octavius with his head resting upon the sleeping blond’s and with a knowing smile he winked. Octavius swallowed and looked at the floor which was suddenly very interesting.

As he heard the soft snores of Jedediah next to him, Octavius couldn’t help but smile. He really wanted them to stay like this forever.


	3. Chapter 3

Jedediah was nearly late to class the following morning. He told Octavius and the others that it was because he over slept and since that was something that happened frequently, they had left it alone. But in reality it was because he had been standing in front of the mirror trying to decide how he was going to talk to Kahmunrah. Jed liked to pretend he was a confident cocky guy but in reality he worried about things a bit too much to keep up that front constantly.

“Hey ramen noodle- nah that ain’t gonna work,” He muttered under his breath as he walked to class. Nothing he came up with was sounding right. “Oi Kah, ya need to back off ‘cause… no, that really ain’t much better.”

Octavius was walking beside him and raised an eyebrow. He decided that it would be best not to comment on his friend’s rambling. He knew that if he mentioned it, Jedediah would just deny it anyway. From the sounds of things though he was planning on talking to Kahmunrah today, Octavius wished he could help but he was just as bad at confrontation as Jedediah is.

“Are you still coming over after class today?” Octavius asked instead, hoping that it would distract Jedediah from what was bothering him.

“Huh? Oh! Of course, kemosabe. I wouldn’t miss our movie nights, not even if the world was endin’!”  Jed replied with an easy grin.

Tuesdays were always their movie nights. Really, it would make more sense to have it on a Friday night because of how they tended to stay up until at least midnight, but since they lived so close together they decided it didn’t really matter. No matter how late they stayed, they were always within a few minutes of their own houses.

Luckily neither of their parents were too concerned about the two staying up late on a school night. Jedediah’s parents thought that Octavius was a good influence on their son. It wasn’t that Jed was badly behaved, but Octavius always had a way of getting Jedediah to focus on his studies that they couldn’t get. Octavius’ parents on the other hand knew that their son always has good grades and so they decided that having one late evening during the week wouldn’t be the end of the world. Besides, they liked seeing how happy Octavius was whenever Jedediah was around.

For tonight Octavius had planned for them to watch The Woman in Black and then maybe a couple of Disney movies, because who didn’t like Disney? The last movie night had been before the summer - before Octavius had gone to Rome - and Jedediah had chosen some cowboy film that was honestly quite boring. Not that Octavius would ever tell Jed that, apparently it was one of his favourites.

The loud ring of the school bell meant that they had to start making their way to class, as much as they wanted to stay and continue chatting they couldn’t. The dawdling groups of teenagers around them began to move, jostling Jedediah and Octavius since they weren’t walking as fast as the others around them.

With a quick little salute, Jedediah turned a corner and headed towards his art class.

Octavius watched him go with a small smile, before continuing his way onwards to his English class. When he entered, Ahkmenrah was already sitting in his seat at the back of the class. Everyone was talking loudly and nobody was sitting in their original seats, which could mean only one thing.

“Octavius! Mr Marshal has the flu so we get a substitute for the next week, which means you can come and sit with me.” The Egyptian grinned and gestured to the desk beside him which he had placed his bag down on in order to reserve it.

Slowly the rest of the class filtered in, along with the substitute teacher. When Octavius got a better look at the teacher he sighed, it was Gus. For some reason the elderly man insisted on being referred to by his first name, which Octavius thought was rather unprofessional. It also didn’t help that the teacher didn’t actually teach, he just sat at the front, kicked his feet up on the desk and slept. So long as the class remained quiet enough for him to sleep, he would let you get away with anything.

Octavius hoped that they would be getting a different substitute tomorrow because he was rather looking forward to English this year.

“Now,” Gus started, already getting comfortable in his chair. “If you punks keep it down, you can do whatever you like. Does that sound fair?”

The students nodded and a small smile appeared on the old man’s face. With a curt nod, Gus leant back in his seat and crossed his arms. As the class began to quietly whisper amongst themselves, Gus closed his eyes and began to doze. Soon his steady snoring could be heard over the noise of the room.

“I cannot believe that that is all he does,” Octavius complained under his breath, attracting the attention of Ahkmenrah who just raised a dark eyebrow. “Why become a teacher if you refuse to teach? What could he possibly be gaining from this?”

His friend chuckled.

“He gains money, Octavius. Whether he teaches or not, he still gets paid, and it is much easier to do nothing. Rather clever way of going about it if you ask me.”

“Be that as it may, it could not hurt to actually put some effort in,” Octavius replied with a huff.

Ahkmenrah rolled his eyes; Octavius cares a bit too much about his studies. In the grand scheme of things a week of doing no work wasn’t such a bad thing.

“So…” Ahkmenrah began with a smug grin, just as Octavius found some work in his bag he could complete. “Were you and our favourite little cowboy cuddling in drama yesterday?”

Octavius’ pencil dropped from his hand and rolled off the desk and onto the floor. He should have known that Ahkmenrah was going to bring this up. It was made clear early into their friendship that Ahkmenrah was often too nosy for his own good.

“We- We were not cuddling. Jedediah was tired and I offered my shoulder as a pillow rather than have him sleep on the floor,” he said as he went to pick up the pencil so he could avoid making eye contact with Ahkmenrah.

 It was true; he would rather have Jedediah rest on him than on the dirty, hard floor. However he didn’t have to offer up his shoulder, Jedediah had automatically leant on him. There wasn’t anything to read into, it was just something that they did.

“And I suppose that you putting your arm around him was part of the deal too?”

“I was merely making sure that he did not fall…” Octavius trailed off as he accepted the fact that he had been caught. Ahkmenrah was smart; surely he had put all of the pieces together by now-

“Oh my, Octavius-”

 -and judging by the huge grin on his face he had done exactly that.

“You like him don’t you?” Ahkmenrah asked loudly, although it was less of a question and more of a statement of fact.

“I would thank you if you kept your voice down Ahkmenrah!” The Italian hissed at him as he noted a few of their classmates glancing back at them.

After being able to keep his feelings quiet for nearly two years, he was reluctant to allow his friend to just shout it out and make it common knowledge. However, deep down Otavius was happy that his friend hadn’t reacted badly, although it would have been hypocritical if he had.

Ahkmenrah snaked an arm around his friend’s shoulder and pulled him closer over the desk.

“No need to be so shy about it my friend, you two would make an adorable couple.”

Scoffing, Octavius moved out of Ahkmenrah’s grip and went to start the homework he had gotten from his bag earlier.

He tried to continue his work while he spoke. “I am not being shy, I am being discrete. My feelings are unimportant and I would prefer it if you kept them quiet, I wouldn’t like to ruin a perfectly good friendship because of it.”

It was then that Ahkmenrah began to understand a bit more, the poor guy was scared that Jedediah didn’t feel the same way. Surely, Octavius was aware that he and Jedediah acted more like a couple of sweethearts than most of the couples in school.

“Besides, it is not like you are one to be able to judge,” Octavius pointed out somewhat smugly. “You have been pining for Larry for ages now and you still have not said anything to him.”

“Oh, but I have.”

“See this is exactly what I was referring to, you cannot hold one standard to others and another to yourself- wait, I beg your pardon, you told Larry?” Unable to comprehend what he just heard, Octavius turned his attention from his work to look at his friend incredulously.

Ahkmenrah allowed a small smile to work its way onto his face, he had to bite his lip to prevent it from growing into a giant grin. He hadn’t had the chance to tell anyone yet, he and Larry were going to mention it at lunch the previous day but due to the situation between Kahmunrah and Jedediah, there was never a suitable time to bring it up.

“I explained my feelings to Larry shortly before he left for Brooklyn and I left for Egypt.” Ahkmenrah couldn’t help but laugh at Octavius’ wide eyes. “He took me to the cinema last weekend. It was rather nice actually.”

Larry had turned up on his doorstep with flowers, wearing a nice shirt and dark jeans. He was so sweet the entire time and Ahkmenrah could tell he was incredibly nervous. Larry had even offered to pay for the tickets and the food. They hadn’t made anything official yet but he was planning on asking Larry out again soon.

“I wish you two only the best,” Octavius said smiling; Ahkmenrah’s happy mood was contagious apparently.

He truly was happy for his friends. He was also incredibly happy that the conversation topic had been changed; he didn’t feel like being interrogated about Jedediah first thing in the morning. Octavius allowed Ahkmenrah to ramble on giddily about Larry, half listening as he worked on his coursework.

-

Jedediah groaned as he put his head on the canteen table. This morning’s lessons had worn him out and like yesterday, he was probably going to sleep through the final class of the day. It wasn’t as though he didn’t care about school; it was just that going from doing nothing all summer to having to do a lot of work really tuckered him out.

“What’s the problem my friend?” Teddy asked as he down beside the blond, Sacagawea then sat next to him.

Larry, Ahkmenrah, and Octavius sat down shortly after. Octavius took his place on the other side of Jedediah, and Larry and Ahk sat opposite them.

“My teacher said that ‘m probably gonna have to get a tutor for maths. It ain’t my fault that he can’t teach for toffee!”  Jedediah’s reply was slightly muffled from where his face was buried in his arms.

He had always struggled in maths; something about all of the numbers got his head more mixed up than a barrel of drunken monkeys in a sandstorm. Subjects like that weren’t his strong point; he did much better in creative subjects like art and drama. Sport was also a subject that he really enjoyed.

“Surely one of us could lend you a hand?” Ahkmenrah suggested, beginning to eat his tomato and feta pita bread sandwich. Octavius didn’t miss how Ahkmenrah flicked his eyes meaningfully over to him as he spoke.

“I don’t know guys…” Jed mumbled.

“I would be happy to help.”

For a moment Octavius couldn’t have been sure whether or not it was actually him that spoke as the words escaped before he had a chance to think over it.

A warm smile appeared on Jedediah’s face, and a similar one appeared on Ahk’s.

“Thanks Octy, I really appreciate this!”

Larry looked between Ahkmenrah, Jedediah, and Octavius. Something was going on between the three of them, and Larry was feeling a bit out of the loop. As he glanced over at Teddy and Sacagawea, Larry could tell that they were thinking the same thing. He would have to try and get Ahkmenrah to tell him about it later.

“We can discuss all of the details after school,” Octavius said, as he got out his salad.

Jedediah used to tease him about his ‘rabbit food’, but Octavius much rather preferred to eat healthily than constantly eat junk food like Jed did. One day all of the fries and burgers Jedediah ate were going to catch up with him, and that nice toned body he had would turn soft and pudgy. Not that Octavius paid much attention to his friend’s physique that is.

Silently cursing himself for his wandering thoughts, Octavius felt his face heat up and he had to resist the urge to hide his face in his hands.

“Are you feeling okay Octavius? You look as though you are getting a fever,” Sacagawea quietly asked over the table.

The Italian turned his attention towards his lunch.

“I-It is just a bit hot in here. But, I can assure you I’m fine.”

Unfortunately, Sacagawea’s question had drawn the attention towards the rest of the table who all looked at him in concern. Octavius was rarely ill and so the statement caught them off guard.

Jedediah put the back of his hand to his friend’s forehead, as his mother often did to him when she was checking his temperature.

“Bud, you’re burnin’ up. Ya sure you’re okay?” He asked.

“I appreciate the concern, but I am fine.” Octavius made sure to emphasise ‘fine’ to further drive home the point.

Jedediah didn’t look too convinced but decided to leave his friend be, like himself, Octavius hated to be coddled and crowded.

The group of friends filled the newly created silence with idle chatter as they ate.

Larry shared a new story about his dogs Rexy and Dexter. Apparently, Dexter’s habit of peeing on everything hadn’t changed because Larry explained how last night he had been doing some research for his history class and therefore wasn’t paying enough attention to Dexter. Dexter must have felt as though Larry wasn’t paying enough attention to him because he decided to pee over Larry’s laptop charger. The charger, unsurprisingly, didn’t work after that.

By the end of the story, Jedediah was laughing loudly. Larry’s lack of luck was always hilarious. Even Sacagawea cracked a smile at the tale.

“Larry, tell the one about Rexy and the ducks! I do not believe you’ve told that one before,” Ahkmenrah said, leaning towards him.

“I haven’t mentioned it before? Okay so when we first got Rexy, he wasn’t trained very well and so maybe it wasn’t a good idea to let him off of his lead, but I did it anyway. We were at the park and there wasn’t anyone around so I let Rexy run around for a bit but that’s when the old lady from the post office turns up with her Chihuahua…”

-

“I cannot believe that charges were not pressed!” Octavius said. He had to hold his side since his stomach had began to hurt from all of the laughing.

The pair were still chuckling about Larry’s story when they walked to class. Jedediah had been laughing so hard that he had to use Octavius to support himself.

“Gigantor really has the worst of luck.” Jed began to chuckle again.

Octavius nodded in agreement and was about to speak when the sight of one of his teachers caught his eye. She was holding a pile of papers and was waving frantically in his direction.

“Hey, I think she wants to talk to ya.” Jedediah told him at the exact same time the teacher called out Octavius’ name. “I’ll just wait here, we’re still gonna have enough time to get to class right?”

The Italian nodded and went to go talk to his teacher, judging from the papers it was probably about the summer homework he handed in yesterday. He didn’t have much free time while he was in Rome since he was visiting family a lot, so he ended up doing it on the plane on the way home.

Leaning back against the wall, Jedediah watched Octavius. He knew whatever the teacher had to say was good because his boy was real smart. Ever since he had joined the school, Octavius had worked so hard on his school work.

Jedediah’s proud thoughts were interrupted as he felt a pressure on his arm.

“Hello Jedediah.”

Hearing the unforgettable voice of Kahmunrah, Jedediah flinched and jumped away from the Egyptian.

“I thought I told you to quit touchin’ me all the time.” He snapped.

The corridors had become busier all of a sudden as students began to make their way to their next classes. However, this meant that Kahmunrah and Jedediah were pushed into one another.

“But you look so adorable! You are just so cute that I simply cannot resist.”

Kahmunrah leant forward and Jedediah was getting really close to just giving him a good ol’ fashion punch in the face. As he tried to think of alternatives to knocking Kahmunrah out, he remembered what Larry had suggested.

“Woah st-step back there ramen noodle.” Putting up his hands, Jed pushed Kahmunrah so that there was at least an arms distance between the two of them. “I’m…”

As Jedediah fumbled for his words, Kahmunrah raised an eyebrow.

“You are what?” He prompted, growing slightly impatient. “Spit it out would you!”

Swallowing, Jedediah straightened his back and looked up at the much taller Kahmunrah.

“I’m taken,” Jedediah lied. “ ‘nd I don’t reckon they’d appreciate you constantly harassin’ me like this.”

Kahmunrah looked as though he was going to burst out laughing, at least he did until he noticed Jedediah’s expression. The blond hoped that his nervousness wasn’t showing because if Kahmunrah didn’t believe him, he would probably pester him even more than he did before.

“You are serious aren’t you?” Jedediah watched as Kahmunrah’s face dropped as the information sunk in. “Well… I should have guessed that you and that Octavius were more than friends. The two of you are rarely separated. How could I be so stupid?”

Hold up, did he just say Octavius? Too afraid to be caught out, Jedediah just nodded dumbly.

“Y-yeah, sorry pal.” Jed carded his fingers nervously though his hair. “Hope ya understand why you bein’ so touchy feely is so-“

“I did not realise she would be talking for quite so long.” As Octavius walked over, he unintentionally spoke over Jedediah. When he realised that Kahmunrah was with Jedediah, he stood a bit straighter. “Oh, my apologies, I did not mean to interrupt.”

Kahmunrah stiffened noticeably at Octavius’ presence, and he couldn’t help but scowl at the short Italian. Octavius furrowed his brows in confusion. He had never really spoken to Kahmunrah before so he didn’t know what he had done to warrant a scowl.

“No harm done.” Kahmunrah said with a false smile on his face “I was just leaving. I will see you in class tomorrow, Jedediah.”

With that, the Egyptian readjusted his messenger bag and silently stomped off.

“Oh booooy.” Jedediah let out a breath he wasn’t aware he had been holding. “I am so glad that’s over.”

Octavius looked over at his friend as they started to head towards their final lesson of the day. They were probably going to be late due to Octavius having to talk to his teacher, but at least that meant they had a valid excuse.

“Is Kahmunrah going to leave you alone now?” He asked.

That seemed like the only reason as to why Kahmunrah looked as though he was in such a bad mood. However, it didn’t explain why Octavius was quite violently glared at when he joined the conversation. Maybe it was just that Kahmunrah didn’t want other people to witness Jedediah telling him to leave him alone.

“Yeah, but…”

“But?”

“Nothin’ Octy, I’ll tell you later,” Jed said quickly.

Octavius didn’t believe that it was nothing, but decided to drop the topic. Jedediah would most likely tell him about their conversation after school during movie night.

Throughout the entirety of the lesson, Jedediah hoped that Kahmunrah would keep his mouth shut. Personally, Jed didn’t mind if there were rumours because honestly there were much worse people he could be fake-dating, but he just didn’t know how Octavius would react.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's just finished writing the whole fic ;))) I'm currently going through and double checking everything so I'm going to be posting chapters over the next few days if everything goes according to plan


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slightly shorter instalment, sorry!

“Jedediah, I am so glad you are here,” Octavius’ mother said as she let the blond teenager in. “Octavius is upstairs so just go straight up.”

Holding his sleeping bag, Jedediah smiled and nodded in thanks.

They didn’t always turn movie night into a sleepover but since it was the first one they’ve had since before the summer, they thought it would be fun. All it meant is that they would have to wake up slightly earlier than normal so that Jedediah could get back to his house to get clean clothes.

“Thank you so much for lettin’ me stay ma’am.”

No matter how many times he came to visit, Jedediah always thanked Octavius’ mother, and always referred to her as ma’am. If his parents ever taught him anything, it was that manners were the most important thing when visiting other people’s homes.

“It’s no problem, you are _always_ welcome here Jedediah.” She gave him a polite nod, before heading into the kitchen where she was in the middle of making herself some tea.

Jedediah placed his tattered shoes neatly by the door; if he was at home he would have just thrown them into the hall. He then headed up the stairs towards Octavius’ bedroom.

“Octy, I’m here,” he said, knocking lightly on the closed door. “Ya decent?”

From behind the door, Jedediah could hear Octavius laugh. There was a bit of shuffling and the door swung open to reveal Octavius in his red, button up pyjamas. Jedediah was almost certain that Octavius had had the same pyjamas ever since he had known him. He was holding a large bowl of popcorn and a tv remote.

Moving to the side, Octavius allowed his friend to enter and put his things down by the bed. His own sleeping bag was rolled out onto the floor. Despite Jedediah saying many times that he didn’t mind if Octavius slept in his own bed, Octavius always stayed on the floor with him. Sleepovers were never proper sleepovers if only one person was in a sleeping bag.

“I just need to get the movies from downstairs,” Octavius explained. “Feel free to change in here.”

As soon as Octavius shut the door behind him, Jedediah rapidly changed into his pyjamas which consisted of a tatty old grey t-shirt and blue pyjama bottoms with little sheriff badges on them.

The last time he and Octavius had got to chill out with just the two of them had to have been before they broke up for the summer. Jed knew that as the school year grew on, they would have to limit the number of movie nights they had in order to focus on their studies. But at that moment in time, he was just looking forward to spending the evening eating popcorn and watching movies with his Octy.

_His_ Octy? The blond shook his head as he unfurled his sleeping bag. Those kinds of thoughts had been happening a lot recently and he wasn’t too sure what to think of them. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth as he tried to push the thoughts out of his mind.

“I have the DVDs, may I come in?” Despite it being his room, Octavius still asked.

He didn’t want to just barge in while Jedediah was halfway through getting changed. Well, maybe he did a little bit but that was neither here nor there.

“Hm? Oh yeah, sure thing pal.”

Jedediah stopped fussing around with his bedding and went to open the door.

With a quiet thank you, Octavius headed over towards the TV that was on top of his desk. It was only a cheap TV and there was a small scratch in the corner of the screen, but it served its purpose well.

While Octavius put the disc into the player, Jedediah made himself comfortable on Octavius’ bed.  His back was pressed against the wall and he had pulled his pillow into his lap. If Octavius asked, he would say that it was to keep warm rather than to hide behind if the movie got too scary. Jedediah didn’t know much about the film, but apparently it had ghosts in.

Placing the bowl of popcorn next to Jedediah, Octavius sat on the bed and started the movie up.

“Who told you ‘bout this movie in the first place? Was it Gigantor?” Jedediah asked as the screen displayed the names of the production companies.

The dark haired boy shook his head.

“Actually it was Sacagawea, she…”

On the screen, the young girls appeared and Octavius trailed off. They looked as though they were having a tea party. It was a cute, peaceful scene, until the girls got up and walked towards the window. In unison, the girls opened the windows and stepped out.

A little “huh”, escaped Jedediah’s lips as he watched.

More credits were shown before the movie properly began.

Grabbing a blanket from the end of the bed, Octavius wrapped it around his shoulders like a cape. That way he could remain warm and have his arms free to take popcorn. He would have asked Jedediah if he wanted to share his blanket, but the blond seemed to be fine with his pillow. If Jedediah wanted to share the blanket, he would just have to ask.

The two sat in a comfortable silence, eyes focused on the screen.

As the movie wore on, Jedediah grew fond of Mr Kipps. The poor guy was just trying to provide for his kid by doing his job. But he couldn’t stop wondering where he recognised the actor from-

“Wait, isn’t he the guy from those wizard-y films?” He asked, his mouth half full with popcorn.

Beside him, Octavius narrowed his eyes at the screen as he tried to remember the name of the actor.

“I think so, Daniel Radcliff wasn’t it?”

Jedediah shrugged, he had never been a big fan of the series. Sighing, he let his head fall to Octavius’s shoulder. Instinctively, Octavius laid his head ontop of Jedediah’s.

“I thought ya said this’d be good,” He mumbled into the blanket covering Octavius’ shoulder. “Nothin’ has even happened yet.”

“It must pick up soon…” Octavius replied, although he didn’t sound too sure.

Sacagawea had spoken highly of the film but Jedediah was right, they were nearly forty-five minutes in and barely anything had happened.

On screen, Arthur Kipps was walking around the house that the villagers had refused to talk about. There hadn’t been any proper ‘jump scares’, just scenes of loud music and a lot of suspense that built up to nothing.

Slowly, their attention started to wander from the movie. As they watched Kipps run into the burning building, Jedediah couldn’t help but wonder if he had unplugged his phone charger at home. He had heard stories of them overheating and causing fires.

Octavius, on the other hand, remembered how Jedediah had yet to tell him what he and Kahmunrah had been talking about.

“Jedediah…”

“Mhmm?” 

“What were you going to tell me earlier?” He asked softly.

The blond stiffened on his shoulder, but other than that he didn’t move. He mumbled something under his breath which Octavius didn’t quite catch.

“Jedediah?” Octavius prompted.

“I said, Kahmunrah thinks we’re datin’ ‘nd I didn’t exactly tell ‘im otherwise.”

Octavius was silent as he took in what Jedediah said. Kahmunrah believed that he and Jedediah were a couple? Oh, that explained why Kahmunrah looked so annoyed with him earlier.

But he still didn’t understand how Kahmunrah came to that conclusion.

“So what exactly happened then?” He asked, requiring more information about what had gone on because Octavius had only been gone for a few minutes.

Taking in a breath, Jedediah sat up and turned to face Octavius. The film, which was still slowly continuing, was well in the backs of their minds at this point.

“Okay, so y’know when you went off to talk to that teacher? Well ramen noodle came up to me ‘nd started gettin’ up in my face again. So I did what Larry said ‘nd I told him I wasn’t on the market. He automatically assumed I was with you and I didn’t want him to know I was makin’ it all up so I just went along with it. Octy, I’m so sorry I’ve dragged you into this but I panicked.”

As he waited for Octavius to respond, Jedediah fiddled with his t-shirt sleeve. Everybody knowing they were best buds was one thing, but being known as _boyfriends_ was a whole different ballpark, especially as they weren’t really dating.

“Jedediah, stop worrying.” Octavius said, allowing a soft smile to appear on his face. “I would much rather him believe we’re dating than have him continue to make you uncomfortable.”

“Really?  It wouldn’t bother you?”

Laughing quietly, Octavius shook his head. “Of course I wouldn’t mind dating you Jedediah.”

It took Octavius a few seconds before he realised his slip-of-the-tongue. He hoped that Jedediah hadn’t noticed it, but judging from the confused expression on his face he had.

“It appears the DVD ended.” Octavius tried to change the subject by gesturing to the TV which was now back to showing the menu screen. “Shall I put one of the other movies on?”

Still surprised at what Octavius had said, Jedediah just silently nodded. Shedding himself of his blanket, Octavius got up and began rummaging through his pile of DVDs.

Did Octy really mean what he said? Jedediah couldn’t tell. They had joked before about the idea of the two of them dating but Jedediah never thought that maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if they did.

As Aladdin began to play on the screen, Octavius sat back down. Jedediah took the discarded blanket from the end of the bed and pulled it over him and Octavius. It was obvious from how Octavius had left a space between the two of them that he felt awkward about what he had said, so Jedediah tried his best to make him relax again.

“So, you still up for tutoring me?” Jedediah asked.

“Of course, if you still need one that is.”

“Well, yeah, I didn’t just magic one up outta thin air in between lunch and now,” He replied with a laugh. “Besides, I’d much rather have you tutorin’ me than my teacher, you do a much better job at explainin’ things.”

Octavius smiled. Hopefully with his help, Jedediah’s grade might improve. Although he wasn’t exactly brilliant at it himself, at least he understood it enough to help Jedediah at least a little bit.

“How does Sunday afternoons sound?”

Really, Saturday or Sunday morning would have been better because they usually spent the afternoons either with the others or just relaxing. However, Octavius knew it would have to take a significant amount of persuading to get Jedediah up before noon at the weekend.

“Sounds perfect, boy!”

After quickly discussing a few more details about their new study sessions, the two of them went back to watching their way through the pile of movies. They had to stop later on in the evening in order to get some pizza, but quickly resumed watching once it had arrived.

The two fell asleep in the early hours of the morning. Jedediah was still sitting upright with his back to the wall, but somewhere into the night Octavius’ sleeping body had slipped down so that his head was resting in Jedediah’s lap. Despite the awkward positions, they both had a great night of sleep.

When Octavius’ mother came to check on them the next morning, she was almost tempted to let them sleep in a little bit later because of how peaceful they looked. However, that excuse wouldn’t have done them much good if they turned up late to school.


	5. Chapter 5

As much as Jedediah hoped he wouldn’t, Kahmunrah did in fact tell people about Jedediah and Octavius. The news didn’t pass as quickly as he would have expected though, as the rumours didn’t actually reach Jedediah until that Friday.

All morning Jedediah was put under questioning by his classmates about his new relationship. Some were discreet about it, quietly mentioning how cute of a couple they thought the two of them made. Others were not, yelling out invasive and vulgar questions from the other side of the classroom. It took a lot of self-restraint to not start hitting those people there and then. Jedediah was used to this kind of questioning as he had to go through it when he and Amelia went public. Octavius on the other hand, most likely hadn’t been through something like that before and Jedediah really hoped that he was being left alone.

Octavius, in a sense, was being left alone. Instead of being asked questions to his face, he had to put up with the constant whispering and giggling of his classmates. It wasn’t particularly pleasant. He hadn’t had people whispering about him since he had first joined and everyone kept talking about the short Italian kid who couldn’t understand anyone (it wasn’t until Jedediah told him about it that Octavius even realised that that was what they were saying).

“So, how long exactly have you and your little Octavius been fooling around then?” Kahmunrah asked Jedediah during English.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Jedediah tried to keep himself calm.

“Don’t call it that, you’re makin’ it weird,” He replied, obviously avoiding the question.

Kahmunrah waited until their teacher went to write on the board before turning to the blond beside him.

“Seeing one another? Is that any better?” Kahmunrah said, his patience wearing thin. “You still haven’t answered the question though, how long?”

With a subtle eye roll, Jedediah tried to quickly come up with an amount of time that didn’t sound too ridiculous.

“Since the summer. Why’re you so interested?”

Although Jedediah had his eyes on the teacher and the board, he could tell that Kahmunrah was smirking. Smug bastard.

“Well I just find it interesting how you’ve never mentioned your relationship before. When you and that Custer fellow were doing whatever you were doing, nobody could stop you from talking about him. The same thing happened with sweet, sweet Amelia.”

That was it then. Kahmunrah had figured out the truth and was now never going to leave him alone. Or at least that’s how the conversation appeared to be heading. Jedediah hoped that he would be able to get himself out of this mess rather than dig himself into a deeper hole.

To help drive home his point, Jedediah looked away from the front of the class and looked at Kahmunrah. However he couldn’t quite bring himself to look Kahmunrah directly in the eyes when he said it.

“I didn’t say nothing ‘cause Octy wasn’t ready to go public yet and I ain’t that big of a dick. So thanks for goin’ round ‘nd telling half the school,” He said in a tone of voice that hopefully left no room for argument.

Kahmunrah blinked a few times before straightening his back and turning around again.

“Ah, well… my apologies then,” the Egyptian mumbled.

From the corner of his eye, Jedediah could see that Kahmunrah’s face was tinted red with embarrassment.

Kahmunrah had been starting to doubt the truth of what Jedediah said but now he was starting to believe him again, or at least he wanted to believe him. As much as Jedediah kept telling him that he and Octavius were together, something just didn’t sit right with the Egyptian. Maybe it was the way that Jedediah never looked him in the eye when he said it, or maybe it was the way that other than the odd bit of hugging, he had never seen the pair display any form of affection.

-

It seemed like a century had passed before they were finally allowed to go to lunch.

Happy to leave behind the rumour-crazed students of his maths class, Octavius walked quickly towards the canteen and to the table he and the group sat at each day. It wasn’t as though they had planned to stick to the same table; it was just something that had happened over time.

“Y’know I heard a really interesting rumour in class this morning,” Octavius heard Larry say as he walked over.

He had just taken his usual seat beside Jedediah when he Ahkmenrah spoke up too.

“It didn’t happen to be about our dear friends did it?”

Ah. So they knew too then.

Honestly, Octavius was surprised that Kahmunrah hadn’t spread the information quicker. For someone who mostly kept to himself, Kahmunrah spread an awful lot of rumours and for whatever reason, people mostly seemed to believe him.

Jedediah sighed loudly, drawing the attention of the table towards him.

“I was just doin’ what Gigantor said to do,” he explained.

Getting out his salad, Octavius decided that he was just going to stay out of the conversation for the moment.

“I do believe Lawrence said to make up a romantic partner, not drag Octavius into the mix,” Teddy pointed out.

“Woah hold your horses there Teddy! I didn’t _mean_ to get Octy involved, but ramen noodle assumed it was him and I jus’, well I didn’t exactly deny it.” Jed twirled the fry he was holding in the direction of the brunette as he spoke.

Shaking his head, Teddy looked over at Octavius, to try and figure out the Italian’s view on the situation. It had been obvious to him for a while, that Octavius harboured strong feelings for his blond haired friend. Teddy wasn’t sure whether or not Jedediah reciprocated, and this “fake dating” business could really hurt Octavius if it ended up that he doesn’t.

Octavius didn’t appear to be paying much attention. He had his eyes stuck on his salad, and was pushing around a small mushroom with his fork.

“Jedediah,” Teddy said in his authoritative tone. “You should come clean before this goes any further.”

The group turned to him as though he had grown another head. It wasn’t often that he used that tone of voice; it was usually only reserved when somebody in the group was planning on doing something incredibly stupid.

“Uh, no can do amigo. If I tell ol’ Kahmunrah that I was makin’ it all up, he ain’t never gonna leave me be.”

The blond didn’t understand why Teddy was making such a fuss. He didn’t have any objections to the plan before, so why was he so against it now?

Larry was apparently just as shocked as Jedediah because he spoke up shortly after.

“Teddy, Jed’s right. If he explains it to Kahmunrah, it could make the whole situation a lot worse,” He tried to reason with his friend, who still looked unconvinced.

“I just do not think that it’s going to end well either way,” Teddy replied.

There was a moment of silence and thought as they tried to consider different ways to approach the new development in their plan. Octavius, who had been silently listening in, couldn’t think of any ways of going about it that didn’t have them ending up back at square one.

“Jedediah could always say that they broke up and he’s still upset over it. Surely Kahmunrah would leave him alone if he was still clearly upset over it.” Suggested Sacagawea softly.

After a bit of consideration, Ahkmenrah shook his head.

“It would be a bit suspicious if so shortly after going public, they broke up,” The Egyptian said after taking a bite of his lunch. “Hmm…unless they act more like a couple for a few weeks and _then_ break up.”

Jedediah worried his lip as he thought it over and then shrugged.

“That sounds like a good plan. I’m up for it if Octy is.”

Hearing his name, Octavius looked up to find the rest of the table looking at him. He didn’t meet their gazes, instead he turned to Jedediah.

“I already said that I don’t mind,” He said, with a faint smile.

Octavius was starting to get regrets about this whole thing. He knew that it wasn’t going to end well for him or Jedediah.

If their act wasn’t convincing, Kahmunrah would find out and Jed would get harassed again. But if their act was too convincing, Octavius feared that he may fall for Jedediah even more than he already has. And that would mean that everything would hurt more when they had to end their fake relationship.

But before anything else, Octavius was Jedediah’s best friend, which meant that all he wanted was to make sure Jed was happy.

“So, how are we going to do this then?” Octavius asked, turning his attention towards the rest of his friends.

“How about a date?” Larry suggested. “Maybe somewhere public where people from school will see…”

By going out somewhere public that would mean that there would be more people that knew about their relationship first hand, rather than just Kahmunrah, which hopefully would make their lie a bit more convincing and believable.

However, there weren’t many places in the area that students went to. The only place that Octavius could think of was the cinema but there was nothing good showing at the moment. Plus, sitting in the dark for an hour or two wouldn’t do them any good if they wanted to be seen by people.

“Oh I know!” exclaimed Ahkmenrah, nearly knocking over his drink when he slammed his hands on the table. “You could go to that lovely little coffee shop in town. It’s only just opened so everybody had been talking about it! It’s the perfect location.”

Jedediah’s eyes widened, he knew the place. There were some girls in his art class chatting about some cute waiter there; apparently the coffee was okay too. It sounded exactly what they were looking for.

“That sounds good. We can do our maths there on Saturday,” Octavius said. “Two birds, with one stone.”

The group then spent the remainder of their lunch time telling Octavius and Jedediah how to be a convincible couple. They were told to hold hands, talk about the other a lot, and occasionally wrap their arms around the other while they walked.

Jedediah bit his tongue, he wanted to tell them that he knew how it worked as he _had_ been in relationships before but he knew that it wouldn’t help anything to mention it.

When the bell rang to signal the end of lunch and their little group slowly disbanded, Jedediah and Octavius stood in the emptying canteen awkwardly.

“Hold my hand?” Octavius asked shyly.

If they were going to be pretending to be a couple for the next few weeks, they might as well start as soon as possible.

“Y-yeah, sure.”

Slowly, Jedediah took Octavius’ hand in his own.

Jedediah tried to think about anything but the fingers that were currently threaded through his to try and stop the blush he could feel creeping up his neck and face.

He cleared his throat and led Octavius through the bustling corridors, ignoring the looks the pair got.

Octavius was expecting Jedediah’s hand to be soft, as they always looked so smooth. But the palms of his hands were rough, probably from all of the work he had been doing on the ranch since he was young.

It felt odd at first, holding his best friend and his crush’s hand, but after a while Octavius began to get used to it. The Italian didn’t know how to describe the feeling other than ‘nice’.

When they were forced to separate at the end of the corridor, Octavius instantly started to miss the warm feeling of Jedediah’s fingers entwined with his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter for the day. There is a high possibility that the rest of the chapters will be posted at some point today because 1) i'm on a roll 2) i'm impatient  
> so keep an eye out!
> 
> This is unbeta'd so let me know if there are any glaring mistakes


	6. Chapter 6

Saturday came around a lot quicker than Jedediah was expecting. One minute he was in class trying to remember out what ribosomes were and the next he was standing in front of the bathroom mirror trying to decide on whether his hair looked okay or not. After running his fingers through his hair for what seemed like the fiftieth time he sighed and gave up.

He knew that he probably didn’t need to fuss this much about his appearance because he was only meeting up with Octavius, but at the same time he really wanted to look his best. In the end he made his fussing reasonable by telling himself that just because it was a fake date, other people didn’t know that so he still needed to put some effort in.

When he went downstairs to leave, his mother gasped from where she was standing in the kitchen.

“Wow-wee, Jedediah Smith don’t you clean up real nice.”

Jedediah groaned at his mother and he went to go put on his shoes.

“I’m headin’ out ma.”

His mother was an incredibly curious woman and if he didn’t leave soon, her questioning would make him late.

“Oh but Jed you look so lovely. What’s the special occasion?” She asked, before gasping again. “Is it a date? Are they nice? Do I know them?”

Jedediah continued to ignore his mother. After checking he had his phone and wallet, went to the door.

“ _Bye,_ Ma.” He said with a small laugh, so that she knew that he wasn’t actually trying to be mean by not answering her.

After closing the door behind him, he went off towards Octavius’ house. He had left a little bit earlier than he needed which meant that if Octavius didn’t take too long, they would be able to get there just ahead of the bus rather than wait around for the other one.

Jedediah couldn’t help but feel as though he had overdressed, but he had been snapchatting with Ahk the whole time he was choosing an outfit and he had said that Jed looked fine. If Ahkmenrah picked up on Jedediah’s nerves, he didn’t say anything.

When he walked up the small path to Octavius’ house, Jedediah didn’t even have the chance to knock before the door swung open. Octavius stood at the doorway with a grin on his face.

“Ready?” Jed asked, his eyes taking in each detail of Octavius’ appearance.

It was purely to know if he had overdressed, Jedediah told himself, if Octavius looked nice then he could relax, and _whoo_ _boy_ did Octavius look nice.

Octavius was wearing his favourite white shirt, with a long red scarf. It wasn’t a nice enough outfit for a fancy restaurant but nice enough for the kind of coffee shop that there were going to. He was also wearing a pair of black skinny jeans that did…

“Jed?”

_…something that Jedediah really shouldn’t be thinking about especially when this was his best friend._

Blinking, Jedediah looked back up at Octavius, who had an eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Did you hear anything I just said?”

“Yes?”

Octavius rolled his eyes and adjusted the messenger bag on his shoulder. He then began to walk towards the bus stop at the end of his road with Jedediah quick on his heels.

“I said that I’ve bought all of my maths books with me so we can go over whatever you want.”

Jedediah nodded. He _may_ have forgotten that this was supposed to be a study session as well as a fake date. Silently, he cursed himself for not bringing any of his books.

“I know I’ve said this before but I really appreciate you doin’ this for me Octy.”

Had Octavius not volunteered to help him, Jedediah probably would have ended up with one of the maths teachers from school as a tutor. All of the teachers in the maths department hated Jedediah, or so he had always believed, and he would rather fail maths completely than have to spend an extra hour or two after school each week with one.

Octavius just smiled at that and they made small chatter until the bus came to take them into town.

-

The new coffee shop was a large building that looked more like a small French café than the other smaller coffee shops that used to be in town. There were tables outside with large umbrellas and a large sign above the door saying ‘Cup O’ Happiness’ in cursive. It was hard to tell what the inside of the shop looked like though as the place was completely packed.

“Uh, I don’t think there are going to be any tables in there,” Jedediah said, desperately trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

The two stood outside of the door and sighed.

Octavius’ brow creased as he tried to think of alternatives. It would have been great to actually sit in the coffee shop since it would be hard to study without a table to lean on, but beggars can’t be choosers.

“Well, I believe that there’s a park nearby so we could always just get something to go and then head over there.”

They could have a sort of picnic. Although it wouldn’t be much of a picnic since they had no sandwiches or a picnic blanket, it would be just sitting on a bench in an empty park with a cup of coffee. But even so, it sounded like a better idea than trying to find enough space in such a busy café.

“Sure. So, what d’ya want?” Jedediah asked as they pushed their way through the door and to the end of the queue.

“Jedediah you don’t hav-“

Octavius’ protests were cut off as Jedediah shook his head. With a small sigh, Octavius let Jed speak.

“Let me buy you somethin’, it’s the least I could do considerin’ I dragged you into all of this.”

Fiddling with the end of his scarf, Octavius wanted to say that he really didn’t mind but decided it was futile.

“Can I get a small latte then?” He asked, mentally making a note of the price so that he could pay Jedediah back later.

“Sure can do kemosabe.” Jedediah flashed him an easy grin before looking over at the menu board. “Hey, do you want a flapjack?”

Octavius paused. Now days, it wasn’t often that he came across words in English that he didn’t understand the meaning of but honestly he had no idea what a flapjack was.

“A what?”

He watched Jedediah roll his eyes and smile as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Y’know, it’s like a biscuit or a scone.” The blond explained.

Although having it, vaguely, explained to him Octavius was still none the wiser. Nodding, Octavius just hoped that once he actually got it he would recognise it. Besides, if Jedediah suggested it then it can’t be bad. But then again Jedediah eats some questionable food at times.

The queue slowly went down and the pair began to inch towards the counter to order.

Looking into his wallet, Jedediah hoped he had enough money. He had swiped some notes off his desk and hadn’t really counted how much there was. The café looked pleasant and fancy but judging from the amount of high school kids there were, the prices couldn’t be that high.

“Jed, I can pay if you’re worried about the money,” Octavius piped up.

Jedediah blinked. Had he really been staring at his wallet for that long?

“I told you I’d pay, it ain’t an issue Octy.”

Jedediah flashed him a reassuring grin before the woman at the counter called them up. They ordered and, even though the queue was nearly out of the shop door by this point, they didn’t have to wait too long for their drinks and food.

Not bothering to check for empty tables, since it was going to be very unlikely to find one, Octavius led Jedediah in the direction of the park. He remembered showing his cousin it when she had come over to visit the summer before last.

Just as Octavius had predicted, the park was completely empty, save for a few dog walkers and one couple having an actual picnic with a blanket and everything. He watched as Jedediah walked up ahead to grab them a bench facing the rest of the park.

If they were a real couple, Octavius would take Jedediah on picnics frequently. Picnics were always something he enjoyed when he was growing up and there wasn’t anyone else he would rather have one with than Jedediah. He smiled at the thought, as childish as it was to wish for a picnic with the one you love.

“Octy! This bench’ll do, right?” Jedediah waved him over towards the wooden bench.

Before he could get wrapped up in more useless fantasies, Octavius picked up his pace. He sat down just as Jedediah thrust the small wrapped package of the flapjack at him.

“So you’ve never had a flapjack before?” The blond asked, sipping at his drink. “Man, my ma makes the best flapjacks, she even puts chocolate on top and _boy_ are they delicious.”

Octavius shrugged, placing his coffee beside him on the bench so he could unwrap the flapjack. He hoped that the snack lived up to Jedediah’s glowing review.

Inside was a small golden square of oats, covered in chocolate and honey.

“Oh, I _have_ had a flapjack before.” Octavius couldn’t help but laugh at how he had forgot the name of such a tasty treat.

“But you do like them right?” Jedediah asked cautiously. The last thing he wanted was for him to have just bought Octavius something that he couldn’t stand.

“Like them? I love them!” If his exclamation wasn’t enough, Octavius then took a sizable bite of the flapjack. “Mmm. I just could never remember what they were called.”

Letting out a breath in relief, Jedediah smiled and took a bite of his own flapjack. Seeing Octavius’ face light up over such a small thing made his chest feel weird. It wasn’t a bad kind of weird, he decided. It was a warm, syrupy sort of weird.

A comfortable silence came over the two of them as they drank and ate. For September, the weather was fairly cold. As a cool wind blew over Jedediah’s skin, he wished that he had taken his jacket with him when he left. From the corner of his eye, he watched as Octavius pulled his scarf up to cover more of his chin.

If there was a library nearby they could go and study inside, but he couldn’t remembered if there were any. Considering how long he had lived in the town, Jedediah knew very little about area around it. But maybe that was because he only ever went to the ranch, or to the arcade with Ahkmenrah.

The arcade!

His brief eureka moment caused him to jump to his feet, which in turn made Octavius jolt and nearly spill his drink.

“Let’s go to the arcade!” Jedediah suggested with a grin.

Octavius blinked and his eyes flickered between Jedediah and the messenger bag full of maths supplies that he had brought with him.

“But what about our study session?” He asked, confused at the sudden change in plan.

With a wave of his hand, Jedediah dismissed the question.

“We ain’t just abandoning the whole tutoring thing! We can just start that next week.”

Octavius didn’t look convinced. He knew Jedediah had a history of procrastinating when it came to studying or revising and he didn’t like to indulge in such a habit. However, it was going to be hard to get his books out without a proper table or flat surface. So maybe it wouldn’t hurt to postpone it until later then.

“Fine. But I’m not letting you weasel out of this altogether Jed.” Octavius said with no heat.

Quickly chugging the remainder of his drink, Jedediah lead Octavius in the direction of the old arcade. It wouldn’t be a particularly short walk, but it was too close for them to bother getting the bus for.

As they walked, Jedediah noticed that there were an awful lot of people from their school out today. There were loads of people from his classes that kept giving him and Octavius obvious glances as they passed by.

After the third person, Jed was started to get a bit nervous. What if they didn’t look enough like a couple? Or even worse, what if Kahmunrah was here and he sees them and decides he doesn’t believe Jedediah after all?

Sensing Jedediah’s nervousness, Octavius began to feel nervous too.

“Hold my hand.”  Octavius said quietly.

Shocked, the blond froze. Jedediah composed himself almost immediately with a shake of his head.

“What?”

From the way Octavius pulled himself up straight, it was easy to tell he was embarrassed.

Casting his eyes to the sky, Octavius muttered.

“Never mind.”

Did Octavius just ask him to hold his hand? The words quickly sunk in. Jedediah wasn’t going to just let Octavius back away from this one.

“Did you just ask me to hold your hand?” Jedediah pressed.

Keeping his eyes upwards, Octavius shook his head.

“Octy?” Said Jedediah.

With a quick lick of his lips, Octavius allowed his shoulders to slump. He turned his head to face Jedediah, but he still evaded the other’s blue eyes.

“You were thinking out loud and I thought that if we held hands then our act would be better and you…” Octavius ran his fingers through his short dark curls. He voice turned into an embarrassed murmur. “…wouldn’t feel so nervous. Forget it, it’s a stupid idea and I never should have said anything.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Jedediah’s lips. It was a really sweet and quite honestly, it was a really smart idea.

If he had known that’s why Octavius suggested they held hands, then maybe he wouldn’t have been confused and accidentally embarrassed Octavius.

Taking Octavius’ hand in his own, Jedediah let out a laugh.

“It’s not stupid, Octy. I just didn’t realise I was speakin’ out loud, I’m sorry.”

Octavius just shrugged, although he couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh of his own.

Jedediah smiled. With the warmth of Octavius’ hand came the warm syrupy feeling in his chest again. The arcade was coming into view. Jedediah could recognise that old sign anywhere.

-

Octavius had watched with a look of amusement as Jedediah tried to win one of the motorcycle racing games against an 11 year old. The blond had said that he always won this game, but as Octavius watched him struggle to keep on the fake motorbike he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

His phone began to vibrate in his pocket halfway through their second race, the first of which Jedediah lost horribly.

**From:** Ahkmenrah  
_How’s the date going? Is the café nice?_

**From:** Ahkmenrah  
_studying*_

**From:** Ahkmenrah  
_I meant studying!_

Rolling his eyes, Octavius began to type.

**To:** Ahkmenrah  
_The café was full, we’re at the arcade._

He politely ignored Ahkmenrah’s typo that was so obviously done on purpose.

In front of him, Jedediah and the kid were still racing. Once again it seemed as though the kid was winning.

As he tilted on the fake motorcycle to swerve around the corner, Jedediah began to mutter curses under his breath. The crowd of the kid’s friends began to cheer as the kid crossed the finishing line first.

Glancing around, Octavius took in his surroundings. The room was relatively dark with most of the light coming from the games. There were also a lot of people in the arcade. Although there were a few around their age, most were younger.

“I swear that kid was cheatin’.” Jedediah moaned as he approached.

Instantly, one of the kids from the crowd took his place racing their friend.

With a small smile, Octavius lead the blond away from the group and towards the empty air hockey table. Air hockey was something both teens were good at.

Glancing back at the motorcycle, Jedediah rolled his eyes. He knew that the twerp had rigged it somehow. Last time something like this had happened, Ahk had called him a sore loser but that wasn’t true. It wasn’t that Jedediah couldn’t accept losing; he just didn’t want to lose to someone who hadn’t even hit puberty yet.  He also didn’t want Octavius to have to witness such an embarrassing defeat.

Jedediah blinked, stumbling a little as he came to a stop. He had never wanted to impress Octavius before. Their friendship was always a relaxed one, neither had to try too hard to make it work. It wasn’t normal for him to want to impress someone, Jedediah always preferred to just act like himself, warts and all. The last time he felt like this was with –

“Custer…” He mumbled almost inaudibly as the reality of the situation sunk in.

Jedediah had feelings for Octavius. He had a big fat gay ol’ crush on his best friend, his smart, cute, kind, patient, amazing best friend that was currently staring at him with his big beautiful brown eyes.

Lightly touching his friend’s shoulder, Octavius spoke gently. It wasn’t like Jed to just zone out like that. Okay, maybe he did during maths but not in the middle of a conversation.

“Jedediah? Is everything okay?”

Jedediah blinked a few times to clear his thoughts; he even shook his head to try and help. He forced his usual smile onto his face and continued walking towards the air hockey table.

“I’m fine amigo, ain’t never felt better.”

Octavius wasn’t sure he believed him but he didn’t want to press the issue. If something was bothering Jed, Jedediah would tell him eventually.

The air hockey table was battered and scratched from constant use over the years. Luckily, the thing still worked perfectly well. When Jedediah put in the coins, the puck came out with a faint _clack_. Taking the blue striker for himself, Jedediah slid the red one to Octavius.

The soft sound of the air on the table was barely audible over the loud noises of the arcade. For a Saturday afternoon, the place was really packed.

The winner was the first to get to ten usually, but it differed from table to table. The first few rounds passed quickly, Octavius’ reactions weren’t as fast as the plastic puck.

“C’mon Octy!” A genuine grin was plastered on Jedediah’s face. “I know you can do better than that!”

At his words, Octavius nodded. If Jedediah wanted a proper air hockey match, he’d get one. Octavius held onto the striker tighter and leant more over the table to allow himself to move easier.

Jedediah hit the puck and it glided over the thin layer of air at such a high speed that if Octavius had blinked, he would have missed it. Just in time, Octavius knocked it back. The puck continued to ricochet back and forth until Octavius’ arm slipped. Instead of going back towards Jedediah, the small plastic disk flew off to the left and off of the table. Due to the speed it had been going at, the puck managed to make it quite a way away from the table and then slid happily under one of the machines, probably never to be seen again

From the table, Jedediah and Octavius just watched. Octavius was the first to start laughing. What were the chances of that happening? Deep down he knew he should probably tell somebody about the now missing puck, but it all just seemed too funny. Soon, Jedediah was laughing too, small tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

Eventually their laughter tapered off and they were both clutching at their sides with tears streaming down their face.

-

It was on the bus home that Octavius thought over the events of the day. Of how Jedediah had paid for his coffee, and how he had obviously been trying to impress Octavius with the arcade game. He had been acting as though they were dating.

Octavius huffed quietly and looked down at where Jedediah had once again fallen asleep on his shoulder.

“You will be the death of me,” he muttered under his breath.

Knowing that Jedediah was only acting this way because of one white lie that had ended up escalating, hurt. He wanted Jedediah to hold his hand willingly not because he was scared that somebody would find out that he had just panicked when talking to Kahmunrah.

All Octavius wanted was for Jedediah to return his feelings. He sighed and gently ran his fingers through Jedediah’s soft blond hair. But if this was as good at it was going to get, although it would hurt in the end, Octavius was going to savour it.

Jedediah let out a little snort.

“Are-“Jedediah yawned, still mostly asleep. “Are we nearly near our stop?”

The blond was too out of it to notice that Octavius had his fingers entwined into his hair, but Octavius moved them away anyway. The quiet sad noise that Jedediah made when he let go didn’t go unnoticed.

“Nearly,” Octavius said softly. “Go back to sleep Jed, I’ll wake you when we’re there.”


	7. Chapter 7

First thing on a Monday was when Octavius had English. But since Mr Marshal was still ill, Octavius didn’t pay any attention to the substitute teacher that was honestly trying her best to teach a subject she clearly didn’t have a qualification in. Instead, he decided that he would once again let his mind wander to the situation that Jedediah had got him into. As he thought, he chewed on the end of his pencil and stared out of the window on the other side of the room.

Ahkmenrah was late, and when he eventually did turn up to class with ruffled hair, flushed cheeks, and reddened lips, Octavius knew exactly where he had been.

Ahkmenrah said a quick apology to the teacher before sliding into his seat. Putting down his pencil, Octavius just watched his friend. He watched Ahk bite his lip in attempt to stop the smile that was tugging at his lips, and he could also see that the Egyptian was bouncing his left leg up and down.

“Do I want to know?” Octavius asked, trying to contain a smirk.

He really didn’t want to know what his friends had been up to, but he was happy for them none the less.

Ahkmenrah shot him a wink before leaning in close and whispering in his ear.

“So how was the date on Saturday? I don’t think I ever asked.”

Rolling his eyes, Octavius moved away from him. Really he should have expecting the questioning sooner or later. But it seemed unnecessary; Ahkmenrah should know that Jedediah didn’t feel the same way that Octavius did. Calling it a date when Jedediah was clearly only acting felt a bit mean.

“It wasn’t a _date_ date Ahk, you know that,” Octavius said.

The substitute teacher had given up in trying to analyse the poems and had retreated to the desk. In defeat, she put on a DVD and began to look at the lesson plan for the next class she had to cover.

Ahkmenrah’s smile turned serious.

“Wasn’t it?”

“It was _fake,”_ Octavius hissed.

Groaning, Ahkmenrah flicked Octavius in the forehead. How could his friend be so dense? As ‘fake’ as Octavius seemed to think the date was, the information he had managed to weasel out of Jedediah made it sound as real as anything.

“I know I am _really_ not one to comment but you two are so oblivious,” Ahkmenrah said. “He bought you food didn’t he?”

Octavius’ brow furrowed. He didn’t understand what paying for a coffee and a flapjack had to do with anything.

“Yes, but-“

“And then he let you hold his hand,” Stated Ahkmenrah.

Octavius remained silent. The only reason that Jedediah held his hand was because he was acting. Besides, Octavius was the one that suggested the hand holding. It didn’t mean anything.

When Octavius didn’t respond, Ahkmenrah sighed.

“Look, tell me about the arcade because Jedediah only told me a little.”

“Nothing happened,” Octavius said. “He played a racing game against an eleven year old, lost, and then sulked a bit. Then we played air hockey.”

Ahkmenrah’s small smirk told Octavius that he knew something that the Italian clearly didn’t. Octavius wasn’t sure what though because there was nothing particularly romantic about what happened.

“What?” Octavius nearly snapped.

This whole “I know something you don’t know” was getting old.

“Octavius, my friend, have you thought that maybe he was trying to impress you? I know that challenging a young child to a video game isn’t exactly the most impressive thing to do, but I’m almost certain that that was what he was trying to do,” Ahkmenrah explained. “Also, if the date was fake then _why_ did Jedediah need me to help decide what to wear? Does he usually put so much thought into his outfits?”

That gave Octavius pause. Was that true? If it was, Octavius couldn’t think of a good reason for why Jedediah would put in so much effort. When they met up in the past, neither of them put too much thought into clothing, they tended to just wear whatever was comfortable. One time Jedediah had even worn the same t-shirt three days in a row.

And maybe Ahkmenrah had a point about Jedediah trying to impress him. Jedediah did appear to take the loss much more personally than he usually did when he lost. Plus Jedediah kept zoning out and obviously had something on his mind. And then Jedediah went and fell asleep on his shoulder again, something he only ever did with Octavius.

When he thought about it, there were lots of things that Jedediah only ever did with Octavius, like the way he constantly put his arm around Octavius’ shoulders. He also couldn’t forget the way how Jedediah seemed to get that jealous look in his eyes whenever Octavius mentioned Mr Lance.

Perhaps Jedediah returning his feelings may not be as impossible as he first thought.

“You’ve worked it out now, haven’t you?” Ahkmenrah quietly pressed.

He had sat there silently as he watched Octavius’ face change from confused, to wonder, and finally to something that resembled hope. Watching Jedediah and Octavius dance around one another had become old and it was about time that the two finally accepted their feelings and actually started dating. The little white lie that Jedediah had told served as the perfect thing to bring them closer together.

“I can’t believe it,” Octavius said breathily. “I really hope that I’m not just reading too into it.”

Letting out a laugh, Ahkmenrah clapped his friend on the shoulder.

“If anything I feel as though you’re not reading into it enough. It’s obvious that Jedediah likes you, but it’s just a matter of whether he himself has come to that realisation yet.”

Octavius hummed in agreement. Jedediah wasn’t dumb, but he did tend to ignore his own feelings until something made him confront them. So it was highly likely that _if_ Jedediah had feelings for Octavius, he was trying his best to not think about them.

-

Octavius couldn’t have been more wrong. Ever since their visit to the café, all Jedediah could think about what the realisation that he had come to when they were in the arcade. Part of him wanted to tell Octavius, but the other was scared. His past relationships hadn’t exactly ended well, and he doesn’t talk to any of his exes anymore and that wasn’t something that he wanted to risk with Octavius. The thought of the two of them possibly never talking again made him feel sick.

He was still deep in thought when he and Octavius were in the lunch hall. For once, it was just Jedediah and Octavius at their table, exams were in a few months and so most of their friends had decided to sign up for lunch time revision sessions.

The silence at the table wasn’t the same kind of silence that the two usually experienced. Rather than a comfortable silence, it felt awkward. They both had things on their minds that neither wanted to talk about to the other, which meant that they kept their focus on their lunches.

Jedediah’s appetite had long since left. He sat, worrying his lip between his teeth and pushing a soggy canteen fry around in the puddle of ketchup. His ma always taught him to not play with his food but at that moment, he didn’t care.

Across the table, Octavius was in a similar situation. His conversation with Ahkmenrah earlier weighed heavily on his mind. Although it gave him some hope that maybe one day he and Jedediah may get together, there was still a sickly feeling of doubt in his gut. With his plastic fork, he kept attempting to spear the small cherry tomato that was on top of his salad.

He kept thinking that he should just tell Jedediah about his feelings, just to get it out of the way and to rip off the metaphorical band-aid. If what Ahkmenrah said was true, then maybe it wouldn’t end badly. Besides, sometimes to get something good it required a bit of risk, but was a relationship and a clear mind really worth potentially losing a friendship?

Octavius huffed out a tiny laugh, luckily Jedediah was so absorbed in thought that he didn’t hear.

Octavius had spent two years feeling like this, maybe it was about time to confess. They had gone through a lot together and despite what Octavius initially thought, it would be unlikely that Jedediah would throw away a friendship if it came to light that he didn’t feel the same way.

Giving a determined nod, Octavius decided that enough was enough. This was going to be as good of a time as any to tell Jedediah. If the news went down well then he would have to do something to thank Ahkmenrah from helping him come to his senses. If it didn’t then, well, he would just have to come up with something if it came to it.

“Jedediah,” Octavius began, ignoring the way his voice cracked when he spoke.

At the voice, Jedediah looked up from his plate and turned his eyes to Octavius. His big blue eyes were like beautiful moonstone spheres, and Octavius had to take a deep breath before he spoke.

“Jedediah I-“

“Jedediah, Octavius.” The familiar smug voice caused Octavius’ words to die on his tongue.

Kahmunrah stood at the end of the table with a giant smirk on his face. Without asking, he slid into the seat beside Jedediah. Being in such close range of Kahmunrah caused the blond to visibly stiffen.

With his confidence shattered, Octavius turned his attention back to his salad.

“So,” Kahmunrah said with a purr. “How was your date?”

Jedediah frowned.

“What date?”

Kahmunrah leaned in closer to Jedediah, looking intently at every detail on his face. His smirk was growing larger by the minute.

“My brother said that you two,” Kahmunrah gestured between Jedediah and Octavius with his finger, “were going on a little date on Saturday. I, as a _caring_ friend, am asking how it went.”

It was then that Jedediah realised his mistake. Kahmunrah was on to them and Jedediah had just given him more evidence that he and Octavius weren’t a real couple

“ _That_ date!” Jedediah said with a nervous laugh. “Yeah well, me and my boy here, we’ve been on so many recently that I forgot which one ya were referrin’ to.”

At this, Octavius looked up and raised an eyebrow. Kahmunrah was still looking at Jedediah so he couldn’t see Octavius’ reaction. However, Kahmunrah didn’t need any more confirmation; he could tell from the uncertain tone that Jedediah spoke in that he had made the whole thing up.

Kahmunrah’s face turned into a snarl and he backed away, pulling himself up straight.

“I knew you were lying to me Jedediah,” he spat. Kahmunrah’s voice was slowly rising which was drawing the attention of students at the surrounding tables. “I do _not_ appreciate being lied to!”

Jedediah’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest. Why couldn’t he have just put up with Kahmunrah’s pestering? It seemed much more preferable to the current, messy situation he had got himself and Octavius into.

“I ain’t lyin’!” He shouted.

Unfortunately it wasn’t convincing enough as Kahmunrah just looked angrier.

From his seat opposite, Octavius could see that Jedediah couldn’t think of anything else to say to try and calm Kahmunrah down. All Jedediah was doing was digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole.

 _Now is as good of a time as any,_ Octavius thought as he stood up. His movement made both Jedediah and Kahmunrah turn to him.

“If we were not actually dating, would I do this?” Octavius said to Kahmunrah before reaching across the table, pulling Jedediah up by the jacket, and pressing their lips firmly together.

At first Jedediah was too shocked to really take in what was going on. One minute his heart was threatening to give out, the next it was beating rapidly but for another reason entirely. Octavius was kissing him, actually, kissing him.

Once the initial shock had worn off, Jedediah moved his hands that were previously hanging limply at his side, to Octavius’ face to pull him closer. Jedediah’s lips parted and their mouths moved together in a kiss that was not completely innocent but neither was it obscene. Jedediah could feel one of Octavius’ hands move from his jacket and into his hair, entangling his fingers in the blond locks.

Eventually they had to pull apart for air. As Jedediah pressed their foreheads together after they parted, Octavius lightly bit his now swollen lip and he looked up at the blond. For a few seconds they just stayed like that, before they both remembered they were in the middle of the school canteen.

Cheers and wolf-whistles broke out across the room and both of them tried to fight the blushes that were working their way onto their faces.

From next to Jedediah, Kahmunrah scoffed. He didn’t seem as angry as he did a few minutes ago, but he still didn’t look happy.

“Well,” he said, moving to stand up. “You don’t have to rub it in, Jesus.”

The Egyptian spared one more glare in the pair’s direction before storming off out of the canteen.

The rest of the students in the school watched as Kahmunrah left. They must have all decided that nothing interesting was going to happen after that because they all returned back to their lunches, although they appeared to be whispering louder than they usually did.

Octavius averted his gaze and sat back down in his seat, his shoulders slumped.

“Octy, I-” Jedediah looked at Octavius with wide eyes as he also returned to his seat.

Raising his hand, Octavius cut Jedediah off.

“Jedediah, I need to be honest with you,” he said, still trying to gather up confidence but quickly realising that he was going to have to speak his mind either way. “I like you. I _really_ like you. And I understand if you don’t feel the same way, and I should probably apologise for that kiss just now because I should have asked first but- why are you laughing?”

Octavius could feel his eyes begin to water. Here he was trying to explain his feelings and Jedediah was laughing. Silence he could take, shouting he could deal with, but laughing made him feel small and humiliated.

The blond instantly stopped laughing when he saw how Octavius’ facial expressions changed.

“Boy, I ain’t laughin’ at you,” Jedediah told him, he needed to make that fact clear. He reached over the table and took a hold of Octavius’ slender hand. “I’m laughin’ at the situation. I- I - hell - I really like you too. I’m practically in love with ya, Otcy!”

The two sat in silence for a moment before, at the same time, they began to laugh. They both felt so ridiculous.  When the laughter ran out, they both had huge smiles on their faces.

“I wanna do this properly so,” Jedediah said, “Octavius, will you go out with me on a _proper_ date this Saturday?”

“I’d really like that.”

If only they had had a proper conversation about this a few weeks ago, then maybe the whole Kahmunrah mess would have been avoided. But as Octavius felt Jedediah squeeze their entwined hands, he silently thanked Kahmunrah. If he hadn’t have gotten them into this situation, then they would have probably ended up dancing around one another for months before they came to any kind of realisation.

“You know that this doesn’t get you out of maths tutoring, don’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay it's done,,, this is finished,,, i actually finished a multichapter fic (go me)  
> i really really hope that you guys liked it!

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd so if there are any glaring mistakes please tell me so that I can fix them!


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